Could We Treat Alzheimer's with Light and Sound? | Li-Huei Tsai | TED

翻译人员: Gefei Guan 校对人员: Helen Chang

Hello, everyone.

大家好

It is a tremendous pleasure to be here

很高兴来到这里

to share with you my story.

讲述我的故事

You’ve all heard of brainwaves.

大家都听说过脑电波吧

For a long time, neuroscientists didn't know what they meant.

很长一段时间，神经学家们 不知道它到底是什么

But we slowly come to understand their purpose.

但我们逐渐理解其意义

The brain generates waves with different paces or frequencies

脑产生不同节奏、不同频率的电波

to transmit information and thoughts

依靠神经细胞间的合作

by coordinating the activity of nerve cells.

来传递信息和思想

These waves are a little like the effect

这些电波的作用

of the orchestra conductor waving a baton

就像指挥家手中的指挥棒

to keep the musicians synchronized.

整合一切

I'm going to talk today

今天我想讲述的

about the waves that have the so-called gamma frequency.

是这些脑电波中带有”伽玛频率“的

These gamma waves are particularly important

这些伽玛波对于

for synchronizing brain activity to process new information

通过感官、学习、记忆来整合脑活动

from the senses and for learning and memory.

并产生新信息而言十分重要

You might be surprised to learn

你可能会认为这不可思议

that when these gamma waves are weaker than they should be,

但是当这些伽玛波强度不足时

this may contribute to Alzheimer's disease.

可能会导致阿兹海默症

Indeed, my laboratory and others have shown

我的研究和其他发现目前证实

that in people with Alzheimer's

在阿兹海默症人群中

and in laboratory mice that model the disease,

以及研究中实验组的小白鼠中

gamma waves at the frequency of 40 hertz

40赫兹频率的伽玛波

have reduced power and synchrony than they should be.

其强度和一致性均遭到削弱

So back in 2015,

2015年时

we got an idea.

我突然有个想法

What if we artificially boosted these waves?

如果我们人为地增强这些波呢？

Would that affect Alzheimer's disease?

这会不会影响阿兹海默症的表现？

We have to know the answer because we are an aging society.

我们必须尽快得到答案 因为我们社会老龄化日趋严重

As we have made progress in treating many other health problems,

当我们解决一个又一个的健康问题时

we've begun living long enough to develop others.

我们因为活得太长而出现新的问题

In the last 20 years,

在过去的20年里

the Alzheimer's Association estimates

阿兹海默症组织预计

deaths from heart disease declined by about seven percent.

心脏病致死会下降7%

But the number of deaths from Alzheimer's disease

但是阿兹海默症致死率

increased 145 percent.

会提高145%

One in three seniors in the US dies [from] Alzheimer’s disease

三分之一的美国老年人 死于阿兹海默症

or another dementia, they say.

或者别的失智症

And more than 11 million people

超过1100万人无偿

provide unpaid care

给患阿兹海默症的亲友

for their loved ones with Alzheimer's.

提供帮助

So this means that probably most of us in this room

这意味着现在台下大多数人

have known and loved someone with Alzheimer's.

都可能认识阿兹海默症患者

I am no exception.

我也不例外

One day when I was four,

我四岁时

I went out with my grandmother.

和我的外婆出门

And when I looked up to her to say,

当我看着她说

"Let's go home,"

“我们回家吧”

She said, "Home.

她说“家...

Where is home?"

家在哪里？”

So to see if we could treat Alzheimer's disease

如果我们要通过改变脑电波

by changing brainwaves,

来治愈阿兹海默症

we tried out different approaches.

我们尝试过不同的几种方法

By working with my colleagues,

与麻省理工大学的同事们

Emery Brown and Ed Boyden at MIT,

Emery Brown和Ed Boyden合作后

we figured out that we could entrain

我们发现可以通过将老鼠暴露在

or stimulate increased gamma waves

与伽玛波同频率闪烁的光下

by simply showing mice lights blinking at that frequency.

从而刺激、增强伽马波

This really works.

这真的有用

Showing mice 40-hertz flickering light --

将实验组的白鼠 暴露于40赫兹的闪烁光

and we demonstrated later,

或40赫兹的电铃声下

placing of 40-hertz buzzing sound -- creates a 40-hertz disco

会产生40赫兹的共振

that increases the power and synchrony

使脑产生更强有力

of these waves across the brain.

更稳定的伽马波

The effect reaches key parts of the brain,

产生的效果可以影响脑的关键部分

such as the prefrontal cortex,

比方说管理决策能力的

where we do planning and reasoning

前额叶

and the hippocampus where we create memories.

和管理情绪的海马体

So the light and sound stimulation approach

这种视觉和听觉的刺激

seems cool and flashy.

看起来好像很牛

Literally.

确实很牛

But what amazes the most is that it produced profound

但更令人称奇的是这种技术可以产生

and widespread benefits

更深远的好处

in mice engineered to model this disease.

在实验组的老鼠中我们发现

Mice exposed to gamma light and sound stimulation

暴露于伽马波刺激下的老鼠

had major reductions in protein build-ups,

有明显减少的蛋白质堆积

amyloid plaques and tau tangles

和阿兹海默症致病因子

that are hallmarks of Alzheimer's progression.

比如淀粉样蛋白斑块和T蛋白缠绕

The stimulation preserved more of the connections

这种刺激保护神经连接

or synapses that bind nerve cells into circuits.

换言之就是连接神经元的突触

More cells survived, so the brain decayed less.

更多的细胞可以存活下来 所以脑的退化更缓慢

The brain naturally has open spaces known as ventricles.

脑中也有天然存在的空洞，被称为脑室

And in the brain of mice left untreated,

实验组老鼠如果不接受治疗

these ventricles became very big.

脑室会变得很大

But in the brain of mice exposed to gamma-wave stimulation,

但是当这些老鼠暴露于伽马波刺激下

these ventricles are closer to the size of healthy mice.

他们的脑室大小会接近于健康的老鼠

And consistent with all of these physical differences,

与这些生理性质一贯的是

Alzheimer's mice exposed to light and sound stimulation

接受视觉和听觉刺激的老鼠

show better performance on learning and memory tests

相较于毫无治疗的老鼠而言

than untreated mice did.

有更强的学习和记忆能力

We are still studying why stimulating gamma waves works.

我们仍在研究为什么刺激伽马波会有用

But we have made some key observations.

但目前我们有了些重大发现

The brain has immune cells known as microglia

脑中含有被称为 微小胶质细胞的免疫细胞

that are supposed to maintain health by removing waste.

它们通过清除代谢废物的方式 保持脑的健康

These cells change their form and activity

这些细胞会因为伽马波刺激

following gamma wave stimulation.

而改变性状和活力

We've also seen that the blood vessels in the brain

我们也发现脑中血管

respond to the stimulation.

也会回应这些刺激

These vessels widen their diameters to increase blood flow, for instance.

比如，血管会靠增大直径来增大血流

This improved circulation may play a key role

这样导致的血液循环加快

很可能关键地帮助处理代谢废物

in flushing out waste as well.

So, mice are nice.

这么解释老鼠没问题

But people are the point.

但毕竟人才是重点

So my group and others have begun testing

我的团队开始研究

gamma light and sound stimulation in humans.

伽马光和声波对人的刺激

We've developed a delivery device

目前我们设计了一种

that our volunteers can use in their homes.

实验志愿者可以在家中自用的设备

It’s a poster-sized light box with a speaker underneath

这个海报大小的发光盒子底下 有个扬声器

to produce synchronized 40-hertz sensory stimulation.

可以生成40赫兹的声波刺激

A little tablet in the middle allows them to play videos

中间的小屏幕可以播放视频

when they are getting stimulated.

从而传递视觉刺激

Recently, we have begun to see data

我们最近开始收集

emerge from these pilot clinical studies.

先导的临床试验数据

Annabelle Singer, a former member of our MIT team

曾经任职于麻省理工的安娜贝尓·辛格

and now a professor at Georgia Tech,

如今是佐治亚理工学院的教授

recently published encouraging results

最近发布了令人鼓舞的数据

showing that gamma light and sound stimulation

表明伽马声波和光刺激

entrains stronger gamma waves in people.

着实增强了人的伽马波

And their brains show increased connectivity and synchrony.

他们的脑也变得更稳定、更同步

My group has made some similar findings,

我的团队也有了类似的发现

including signs of preservation of brain volume

包括脑体积保全的迹象

and cognitive improvement.

以及认知能力增强

A private company we co-founded, Cognito Therapeutics,

我们参与建立的私企 Cognito Therapeutics

has also seen benefits in human testing,

也于临床测试中看到好处

including reduced brain atrophy and improvement in mental functioning.

比如减少大脑萎缩和增强心理能力

While we still have more work to do

尽管我们还有更多工作要做

to determine the full clinical efficacy,

需要探究该技术的医学能力

we have provided a lot of evidence that this approach appears safe.

我们已经有了充足的证据 证明这种方法是安全的

Our participants use their devices consistently

我们的志愿者持续使用仪器

and tolerate gamma wave stimulation well.

还很好地耐受伽马波的刺激

Unlike a drug,

不像药物

this stimulation is completely non-invasive

这种刺激完全是非侵入性的

and has minimal side effects,

并且副作用极小

which could make this approach very accessible.

因此这项技术应是极容易可行的

We are now working to launch a new study

目前我们着手于开展新研究

of whether gamma-wave stimulation can effectively delay

来探究伽马波刺激能否有效延迟

the incidence of Alzheimer's disease.

阿兹海默症的发病

Given the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease in our aging population

考虑到阿兹海默症 在我们日趋老龄化的人群中愈演愈烈

and how safe this gamma light and sound stimulation approach appears to be,

且伽马声波和光刺激看来非常安全

I sometimes dream of a gamma society

我时常想象我们把伽马波刺激应用于

where we integrate gamma wave stimulation into our daily environment

日常生活后的场景

through our lighting or even our video entertainment.

可以通过我们的灯，甚至通过视频娱乐

Maybe we will have a better world

也许我们会有更美好的世界

and a brighter future

和更光明的未来

if we can keep our brainwaves,

如果我们能保持脑电波

and therefore our mind and memory, well stimulated.

使得思想和记忆得到好刺激的话

Thank you.

谢谢大家

(Applause)

（掌声）

Chris Anderson: Thank you so very much.

克里斯·安德森：非常感谢您

I actually would have so many questions,

我其实有很多问题想问

but the clock is not our friend.

但是时间不够

I'm going to ask you one.

我想问你一个

The cause of Alzheimer's,

阿兹海默症的病因

like, the implication of what you're saying,

就像你说的那样

is that it's possible that an actual causal factor

可不可能有个直接原因

is this falloff in the gamma brainwaves.

导致了伽马脑电波的减少？

Is that how you see it or what is the picture?

请问这是你的理解方式吗？

Li-Huei Tsai: You know, obviously,

蔡立慧：你想

the causes for Alzheimer's disease are very complex.

阿兹海默症的病因很复杂

There are a lot of genetic factors and environmental factors.

有基因问题，有环境因素

But one thing is that this compromise of the gamma waves

但影响伽马波的因素很早就出现了

happens very early in the course of the disease.

这抑制了伽马波的产生

And you know, as I alluded to earlier,

就像我之前说的一样

it has tremendous effects on many different cell types,

这种刺激对于别的细胞也有很好的作用

many different functions in the brain.

对于脑的其他功能也有积极作用

So it is very likely

所以很有可能

that these impaired gamma waves leads to the build up

受影响的伽马脑电波导致了

of the protein aggregates and pathology.

蛋白质的堆积，最终致病

But I would also like to mention

但我也想说

that this impairment of these other cell types

其他细胞的受损

and other processes in the brain

和脑的其他功能紊乱

can also impact the strength of the gamma waves.

也会反过来影响伽马波的强度

So if you think about the pathophysiology of the disease,

所以如果我们再想想这种病的致病机理

it's like a runaway train that eventually crashes.

它很像一列脱轨的火车，最终总会翻车

So I think that this light and sound approach,

所以我认为这种声光刺激的作用

what it does is to give a break of this process

是不让事情变得更糟糕

and give the brain an opportunity to heal.

并让脑有机会自我修复

CA: So you are not necessarily arguing that gamma-ray therapy

安德森：所以你的意思是伽马波疗法

would be a complete prevention of Alzheimer's,

未必会阻止阿兹海默症

but that it could, in combination with other things

但是再加上别的因素

it could play an absolutely critical role.

可以造成重要影响

LHT: It depends on when do you start the treatment.

蔡：这取决于你何时开始治疗

So if you start early --

如果尽早开始

so that’s why we are now testing

所以这就是为什么我们要探究

whether this approach can delay the incidence of the disease.

这种方法能否延迟发病

CA: If you start early enough, you really believe,

安德森：如果尽早开始，你坚信

that alone could delay materially the onset of Alzheimer's.

只通过这种疗法 就可以实质性延缓阿兹海默症

LHT: We'll see, we're starting a clinical trial.

蔡：到时候我们就知道了 目前我们正处于临床试验

CA: Thank you so much, thank you for your work.

安德森：非常感谢您的奉献！

(Applause)

（掌声）